Book stand



L. E. MAGERS Aug. 25, 1964 BOOK STAND 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. 9, 1958 440m 5 Mag-Tm? United States Patent M 3,145,851 BOOK STAND Lloyd E. Magers, Evanston, IlL; State Bank and Trust Company, Evanston, Ill., a corporation of Illinois,

trustee; also executor of said Lloyd E. Magers, de-

ceased, assignor to Gaylord Bros, Inc, Syracuse, N.Y.,

a corporation of New York Continuation of application Ser. No. 708,014, Jan. 9,

1958. This application Apr. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 101,592

2 Claims. (Cl. 211148) This application is a continuation of my application Serial No. 708,014, filed January 9, 1958, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a stand suitable for supporting books or the like and more particularly to a knock-down stand having a strong and solid construction, but which can be stored in extremely compact form with its shelves in nested relationship.

Heretofore, book racks or stands have been provided which afford a stable setting for the books, but these have not been of the knock-down variety, since it has generally been believed that such a structure could not be made without sacrificing stability.

A further disadvantage encountered with book racks or stands which are presently available is the fact that they tend to mar any wall surface against which they may be positioned, particularly where the racks are of the mobile type and the individual shelves are canted in a way which causes the books to project rearwardly from the rack or stand.

I have provided a stand in which the shelves each have a bottom wall and a back wall, and are removably mounted on the stand in a Way which holds the books securely. The shelves are constructed so as to engage upon vertically spaced rods which connect oppositely disposed support members by threaded means which draw the rods into firm alignment with the supports during assembly.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a knock-down book stand which can be moved easily from one place to another without danger that books which may be held therein will become accidentally dislodged.

Another object of the invention is to provide a book stand having a minimum of parts, which can be readily assembled and disassembled without special skills or training and which can be shipped in extremely compact form with its shelves in nested relationship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a book stand having a pair of vertical supports reliably connected by a plurality of rods which are adapted to be drawn by threaded means into engagement with the vertical supports in such a way as to stabilize the supports while supporting the shelves in vertically spaced relationship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a book stand as described in which each of the shelves has suspension means on its longitudinal marginal edges for engagement with the connecting rod for the supports, these suspension means being preferably in the form of flanges formed integrally with the said shelves.

Another object of the invention is to provide a book stand of the type indicated in which the vertical supports are of substantially an inverted U-shaped configuration so as to define uprights each of which has a plurality of vertically spaced apertures for determining the position of the rods and the shelves upon the stand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stand as described in which the rods for connecting the shelves are preferably tubular in construction, and are of reduced diameter at each end to provide internally threaded apertures for registration with the apertures on the vertical supports and for engagement with threaded means adapted to releasably connect the supports and the rods.

3,145,851 Patented Aug. 25, 1964 Another object of the invention is to provide a relationship between the rods and the vertical supports of the rods of the invention which affords exceptional rigidity and strength when the stand is assembled. This is accomplished by means of a construction for the uprights of the supports which is tubular and substantially rectangular in cross-section, so that the inner face of an upright has a relatively large aperture corresponding to the diameter of the rod to be associated therewith, and the outer face of the upright has a relatively small aperture in register with the aperture for receiving the rod, the small aprture being suitable for rceiving a thread ed element into engagement with the internally threaded aperture of the rod. Accordingly, the rod will be engaged Within the upright in a manner which holds the supports securely in alignment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stand in which the rear uprights of the vertical supports are offset at their lower ends so as to act as a bumper which will contact the baseboard of a wall when the stand is moved thereagainst. Thus the main portion of the stand will be held in spaced relation to the wall and will not scuff the wall.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds in accordance with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a stand according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the stand shown in FIGURE 1 showing its relationship to a wall against which it is moved as closely as possible;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in vertical section, of the connection between an upright of the stand and a rod for supporting a shelf of the stand;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of the upper portion of one of the vertical supports showing a flat shelf which may be positioned thereon; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the stand in disassembled condition disclosing the compact relationships of its perspective parts.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 through 3, the stand of the invention is generally designated by reference numeral 10 and comprises a pair of oppositely disposed vertical supports 12 and 14 of substantially an inverted U-shaped configuration, a plurality of vertical spaced, parallel connecting means taking the form of rods 16, 18 and 20 and 22, 24 and 26 joining the supports at the front and rear respectively, and a plurality of shelves 28, 30 and 32, which are supported on the said rods. The stand 10 is preferably of metal construction, although any other suitable material may be employed.

The vertical supports 12 and 14 each have preferably straight front uprights 34 and 36 respectively, upper crossbars 38 and 40 and rear uprights 42 and 44 in spaced parallel relationship to the front uprights. However, each of the rear uprights 42 and 44 is angled outwardly at 46 and 48 so as to terminate in relatively short bumper sections 50 and 52 adapted to maintain the upper portion of the book stand 10 in spaced relationship to a wall 54 against which it may be positioned. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the uprights 34 and 36 and 42 and 44 are provided with rollers 56 through 62, respectively, so that the entire structure can be very easily moved from one place to another without difiiculty.

In order to provide a strong construction and to engage solidly with the rods 22 through 32, the vertical supports 12 and 14 are preferably tubular and of substantially rectangular cross-section. The rods are held in firm engagement with the supports by a plurality of vertically spaced apertures in each of the uprights of the supports. As seen in FIGURE 3, for example, the inner face 64 of the upright 34 has an aperture 66 whose diameter preferably approximates the diameter of the rod 16 while the outer face 68 of the upright 34 defines a smaller aperture 70 in register with aperture 66. A corresponding set of apertures is formed in the front upright 36 in horizontal registration with apertures 66 and 70, so as to engage the rod 16 as hereinafter described, and the front and rear uprights 34 and 36 and 40 and 42 are each provided with similar sets of apertures in vertically spaced relation.

The rods 16 through 22 are preferably of tubular construction for sake of lightness and strength, and are each provided with an end portion which is preferably of reduced diameter relative to the diameter of the rod as a whole and which is internally threaded axially of the rod to accommodate the shank of a bolt such as bolt 72 in the end portion 74 of rod 16. The end portion 74 may be flared at its tip to exceed the diameter of the aperture 70, so that when the bolt 72 is inserted through the aperture 70 into the end 74, the rod 16 will be drawn snugly against the outer face 68 of the upright 34.

In order to hold the shelves 28, 30 and 32 in inclined or canted relation to the supports 12 and 14, the apertures for the successive pairs of front and rear rods 16 and 22, 18 and 24 and 20 and 26 are formed so that the apertures in the front uprights for the front rod for each pair of front and rear rods are designated, are spaced below the apertures in the rear uprights for the rear rod thereof. Accordingly, when the rods are in their assembled condition, the front rods and the rear rods will be in vertically spaced parallel relation, as described, with the front rod of each pair of front and rear rods displaced below the corresponding rear rod a predetermined amount as hereinafter set forth.

So as to hold a book, such as the book 76 shown in dot and dash in FIGURE 2, against accidental dislodgement from the rods, each of the shelves, 28, 30 and 32 has a bottom wall and a back wall at preferably a right angle thereto, such as bottom wall 78 and back wall 80 of the shelf 30. The shelves are dimensioned so that their longitudinal edges are adapted to be disposed in register with a pair of front and rear rods, the specific dimensions being variable in accordance with the location of the shelf, the type of books which will be stored, or like considerations. The shelves are positioned upon the rods at an incline produced by the relative displacement of corresponding front and rear rods, which again may be varied as desired, and the shelves are supported upon the rods by suspension means on the longitudinal marginal edges of each of the shelves. In the embodiment shown, the suspension means comprise a marginal flange along each of the longitudinal edges of each of the shelves. The bottom wall 78 has a front edge with a flange 82 depending therefrom. This flange 82 has a depending portion 84 extending below the bottom wall to an end portion 86 turned under the bottom wall in substantially parallel relation therewith. The top edge of the back wall has a flange 88 with a portion 90 extending rearwa-rdly therefrom to an end portion 92 disposed substantially parallel and behind the back wall. The flanges 82 and 88 thus provide hook-shaped flanges which fit snugly on the rods 18 and 24 but can be easily moved onto and off of the rods as hereinafter described.

In assembling the book rack, the rods 16 through 22 are first positioned between the uprights 34, 36 and 42 and 44 by inserting an end of each of the rods into an aperture in one of the supports 12 or 14, drawing the rods tightly against the outer faces of the uprights of the support by bolts such as bolt 72, and then fastening the other support in a similar manner. Thereupon shelves 28 through 32 are disposed in register above the rods 16 and 22 are are disposed in register above the rods 16 and 22 and moved downwardly so that the suspension means or flanges cover the rods.

The shelves may be mounted from the lowest to the highest or in any other manner. In order to aid in guiding the shelves into position, and in holding the supports in firm parallel alignment, side flanges such as flanges 94, 96, 98 and 100 of shelf 30 may be formed at the shelf ends, these edges also serving to hold the books on the shelves. The manner of disassembling the rack 10 will be readily understood from the foregoing description. Preferably the suspension flanges for the shelves, such as flanges 82 and 88 of shelf 30, are dimensioned so that the shelf may be lifted directly from the rods in an upward direction, though some degree of pivoting may be found desirable about one or the other of the rods. The vertical supports are then removed successively, and the entire device may be stored or shipped compactly by placing the supports 12 and 14 in stacked relation, placing the shelves 28, 30, and 32 in nested relation on the supports, and thereafter inserting the rods 16 through 22 in the cavity between the shelves and the supports as shown in FIGURE 5.

It may be found desirable to provide a flat or slightly inclined upper shelf, such as the shelf 102 to serve as a tray for articles that might spill, as a dictionary support, or as a working surface or the like. To this end, a pair of apertures such as the apertures 104 and 106 is formed on the upper extremity of the uprights 34 and 36, respectively, the apertures 104 and 106 being at the same level as the aperture 108 on the rear upright 42 and for the rear rod 26 if a flat shelf is desired or at a lower level as shown at 104 and 106' if an inclined dictionary shelf if wanted. One of the rods, such as the rod 20 for the shelf 32, may be used to support the front part of the shelf 102, the shelf being preferably provided with depending flanges 110 and 112 at its longitudinal marginal edges for securing the shelf in position as shown in FIGURE 4 and end flanges 114. In the case of an inclined shelf 102' the flange 110 could be upturned to provide a ledge for the bottom edge of a dictionary or other book.

As seen in FIGURE 2, the ends of the shelves may be provided with reinforcing members 116 and 118, extending between intermediate end portions of the bottom and back shelf walls of shelf 28 in the example shown. However, a maximum of simplicity is preferred, so as to preserve the compactness for shipping of the device as stored, it having been found that the structure as disclosed provides exceptional strength, particularly where the shelves are dimensioned to fit snugly between the vertical supports.

As shown in FIGURE 2 the shelf 102 of FIGURE 4 can be mounted flatwise between the shelves 28 and 30 by providing additional holes and supporting rods at a desired level to provide a support for a large atlas or the like book which would not easily fit on the other shelves. The level should be selected to accommodate easy withdrawal and replacement of books from the bottom shelf and book clearance from the bottom of the shelf 30.

Although I have herein described by invention with respect to certain specific details, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these might be varied without departing from the principles of the invention as set forth in the hereunto appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A book stand comprising a pair of longitudinally spaced tubular, inverted U-shaped uprights each having a straight front leg, a top crossbar, and a rear leg with a rearwardly offset bottom bumper section adapted to engage a wall for spacing the upper portion of the stand from the wall, rollers on the bottoms of each leg supporting the stand for easy movement, said front leg of each upright having vertically spaced rod-receiving apertures aligned at the same level, said rear leg of each upright having vertically spaced rod-receiving apertures aligned at the same levels above the apertures in the front legs, vertically spaced book shelves between said uprights and spanning the entire space therebetween, each shelf having bottom and back walls in right angle relation with hookshaped flanges respectively depending from the front edge of the bottom wall and extending rearwardly from the rear wall, said flanges extending the full lengths of said shelves, rods secured to said uprights and engaged by said flanges, said rods engaged by the full length flanges on the bottom portions of the shelves projecting into the lower level holes of the front legs of said uprights, said rods engaged by the full length flanges on the back portions of the shelves projecting into the higher level apertures of the rear legs of said uprights, the levels of the apertures in said front and rear legs of the uprights being arranged to hold the shelves with the bottom walls thereof inclining downwardly from the front ends thereof and with the back walls thereof extending upwardly and rear- Wardly for supporting books in a slanted position for ready visual access to the book titles.

2. A book stand comprising a pair of longitudinally spaced inverted U-shaped uprights each having a straight front leg, a top cross bar, and a rear leg With a rearwardly offset bottom bumper section adapted to engage a wall for spacing the upper portion of the stand from the wall, rollers on the bottoms of each leg supporting the stand for easy movement, said front leg of each upright having vertically spaced rod receiving apertures aligned at the same levels, said rear leg of each upright having vertically spaced rod receiving apertures aligned at the same levels above the apertures in the front legs, vertically spaced book shelves between said uprights and spanning the entire space therebetween, each shelf having a bottom wall and a back Wall in integral relation, a first integrally formed flange depending below the bottom wall of each shelf and turned under the bottom wall in substantially parallel relation therewith, a second integrally formed flange extending rearwardly from the top edge of the back wall of each shelf having an end portion substantially parallel to and behind the back wall, said first and second flanges extending longitudinally along the outer edge of each of said walls for the full lengths of said shelves, rods engaged by said first flanges projecting into the lower level apertures of the front legs of said uprights, rods engaged by said second flanges projecting into the higher level apertures of the rear legs of said uprights and means securing said rods to said uprights, the levels of the apertures in said front and rear legs of the uprights being arranged to hold the shelves with the bottom walls thereof inclined downwardly from the front ends thereof and with the back walls thereof extending upwardly and rearwardly for supporting books in a slanted position for ready visual access to the book titles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 16,234 Taylor Dec. 22, 1925 2,466,882 Echlin Apr. 12, 1949 2,468,513 Rider Apr. 26, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 421,205 France Dec. 15, 1910 538,269 Italy Jan. 19, 1956 

1. A BOOK STAND COMPRISING A PAIR OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED TUBULAR, INVERTED U-SHAPED UPRIGHTS EACH HAVING A STRAIGHT FRONT LEG, A TOP CROSSBAR, AND A REAR LEG WITH A REARWARDLY OFFSET BOTTOM BUMPER SECTION ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A WALL FOR SPACING THE UPPER PORTION OF THE STAND FROM THE WALL, ROLLERS ON THE BOTTOMS OF EACH LEG SUPPORTING THE STAND FOR EASY MOVEMENT, SAID FRONT LEG OF EACH UPRIGHT HAVING VERTICALLY SPACED ROD-RECEIVING APERTURES ALIGNED AT THE SAME LEVEL, SAID REAR LEG OF EACH UPRIGHT HAVING VERTICALLY SPACED ROD-RECEIVING APERTURES ALIGNED AT THE SAME LEVELS ABOVE THE APERTURES IN THE FRONT LEGS, VERTICALLY SPACED BOOK SHELVES BETWEEN SAID UPRIGHTS AND SPANNING THE ENTIRE SPACE THEREBETWEEN, EACH SHELF HAVING BOTTOM AND BACK WALLS IN RIGHT ANGLE RELATION WITH HOOKSHAPED FLANGES RESPECTIVELY DEPENDING FROM THE FRONT EDGE OF THE BOTTOM WALL AND EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM THE REAR WALL, SAID FLANGES EXTENDING THE FULL LENGTHS OF SAID SHELVES, RODS SECURED TO SAID UPRIGHTS AND ENGAGED BY SAID FLANGES, SAID RODS ENGAGED BY THE FULL LENGTH FLANGES ON THE BOTTOM PORTIONS OF THE SHELVES PROJECTING INTO THE LOWER LEVEL HOLES OF THE FRONT LEGS OF SAID UPRIGHTS, SAID RODS ENGAGED BY THE FULL LENGTH FLANGES ON THE BACK PORTIONS OF THE SHELVES PROJECTING INTO THE HIGHER LEVEL APERTURES OF THE REAR LEGS OF SAID UPRIGHTS, THE LEVELS OF THE APERTURES IN SAID FRONT AND REAR LEGS OF TEH UPRIGHTS BEING ARRANGED TO HOLD THE SHELVES WITH THE BOTTOM WALLS THEREOF INCLINING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE FRONT ENDS THEREOF AND WITH THE BACK WALLS THEREOF EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY FOR SUPPORTING BOOKS IN A SLANTED POSITION FOR READY VISUAL ACCESS TO THE BOOK TITLES. 